Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

Alan Szepieniec is a cryptographer & systems architect who specializes in Zero Knowledge proofs. He created Neptune Cash, a L1 network which combines ZK STARKs with Proof of Work in order to have a money system that's private, scalable & quantum resistant

Jonathan Bier is the author of the influential best-seller "The Blocksize War: The battle over who controls Bitcoin’s protocol rules", as well as one of the most prolific and respected researchers in Bitcoin. He is also an active investor who sits on various company boards and advises projects in the space. In this episode, we talk about parallels between the Bitcoin scaling debate and the filter wars, but also highlight some debunked Satoshi Nakamoto claims. Time stamps: 00:01:11 - Introducing Jonathan Bier and Blocksize War Book 00:02:44 - Meeting BitMEX Founders and Starting Research 00:05:31 - Arthur Hayes' Blog Writing and Vision 00:07:32...

Curtis Green, better knows by OG bitcoiners as "Chronicpain" or "Flush", is a former forum moderator and website administrator of the Silk Road internet marketplace. He is a man who has mined bitcoin early enough to get scammed by Butterfly Labs, and was allegedly also the target of a bounty on assassination markets. He's seen all eras of Bitcoin, and today he seeks to get pardoned by the Trump administration. He will accept donations from community members in order to get the legal help he needs. Read Curtis Green's book, "Silk Road Takedown": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729436889 Donate to...

Leona Hioki is the CEO, co-founder & architect of INTMAX: a ZK rollup layer 2 that focuses on private payments, scalability, and low fees. In this episode, we talk about scaling & privacy tech for Bitcoin & what we can learn from Ethereum. Time stamps: 00:01:17 -Introducing Leona 00:02:47 - Leona Hioki's Background 00:03:38 - Discussion on Past Podcasts and Zcash Pump Dance 00:05:00 - Privacy Trends in Crypto 00:05:26 - INTMAX Overview: Privacy, Scalability, Trade-offs 00:05:44 - Client-Side Validation and ZKP in INTMAX 00:08:22 - Comparison to Zcash and RGB 00:08:46 - INTMAX on Ethereum and Potential Bitcoin Integration 00:11:02 - INTMAX vs. StarkWare 00:14:15 - Stateless vs. Stateful Systems 00:15:05 - Evolution from...

Recently, Trezor unveiled the Safe 7: the first hardware wallet in the world to include the Tropic Square verifiable secure element chip, a true game-changer for Bitcoin security. In this episode, Matej Zak & Tomáš Sušánka explain how it works. Buy your Trezor Safe 7 (referral link): https://affil.trezor.io/SHuM Time stamps: 00:01:13 - Introduction to the podcast episode and guests (Matej Zak, CEO, and Tomáš Sušánka, CTO of Trezor). 00:01:34 - Discussion of the Trezor Safe 7 product launch event in Prague and the host's excitement about the Tropic Square chip. 00:01:55 - Mention of the live unboxing and potential for things to go wr...

Recently, Super Testnet built Papa swaps: a novel & optimistic way of doing atomic swaps on Bitcoin. In this episode, he talks about his new projects, why he is in favor of filtering the mempool + BIP 444 activation, and prediction markets. Time stamps: 00:01:28 - Intro: Super Testnet's Return to the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast 00:03:03 - Lightning Privacy Wars: Recapping Super's Monero Challenge & Layer 2 Debates 00:03:43 - Papa Swaps Unleashed: Super's Lightning-Fast Innovation Explained 00:04:57 - Submarine Swaps 101: From Layer 1 to Layer 2 in a Flash 00:06:04 - Phoenix Wallet Magic: Splicing vs. Submarine Swaps – Why Capacity Matters 00:07:55 - Birth of Papa Swaps: From Mexico Chats to Single-Transaction Br...

Mert Mumtaz is the man of the hour: the Zcash bull who successfully popularized privacy in DeFi, and one of the architects behind the spectacular price action we've seen in the month of "ZECtober". In this episode, we talk about the meaning of privacy, why Zcash plays a leading role in this new paradigm, and what "zillions" really means. Time stamps: 00:01:25 - Zcash's Encrypted Messaging Magic: Scan QR for Questions! 00:02:37 - Mert's Zcash Origin Story: From Solana Scaling to Privacy Powerhouse 00:03:52 - Diving into Project Tachyon: Scaling Zcash with Solana Insights 00:04:03 - Untapped Potential: Why Zcash's Story Needs a Epic...

The Stroom Network presents an interesting proposition: staking your bitcoin on the Lightning network, and earning yield from the transaction fees that routing nodes are collecting. To better explain how this system works, Slava and Ros join the show! Time stamps: 00:01:17 - Introduction to Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Season 16 Episode 54 00:01:23 - Welcoming Slava Zhygulin and Ros from Stroom Network 00:01:52 - Overview of Stroom Network: Liquid staking on Lightning Network 00:02:38 - How Stroom works: Depositing BTC for yield via transaction routing 00:03:55 - Liquid token as receipt for deposited BTC 00:04:21 - Addressing Bitcoin purists' concerns about staking and yield 00:05:32 - Token issuance on...

Xenu is the anti-moonboy: someone who is deeply dedicated to promoting digital money as something that you use to purchase goods & services, and a black market connoisseur. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin & tackle the Moreno vs Zcash debate. Time stamps: 00:01:46 - Welcome to Bitcoin Takeover podcast 00:01:52 - Vlad introduces himself and Xenu 00:02:06 - Debating Zcash vs Monero 00:02:44 - Xenu thanks Vlad 00:03:36 - AI and aesthetics discussion 00:03:41 - Vlad sold XMR for ZEC and Zano 00:04:31 - Zano as CryptoNote fork 00:05:18 - Bitcoin as speculative asset 00:06:55 - Satoshi white paper vs Michael Saylor 00:09:24 - Ordinals and blockchain data 00:10:11 - Filters...

While the Bitcoin Core v30 vs Knots debate went on, Paul Sztorc was hard at work building the Drivechains software. However, this doesn't meant that he doesn't have any opinions about the recent events and their greater significance. Time stamps: 00:01:30 - Welcome to the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast and Paul's Second Appearance This Season 00:02:28 - Bitcoin Civil War: Core v30 vs Knots Debate 00:03:02 - Nick Szabo Joining the Debate and Ties to Samson Mow's Company 00:04:11 - Op Return Limit Silliness and Historical Bitcoin Uncensored Humor 00:05:21 - Shift in Bitcoin Community: From Subversive to Suit Coiner Route 00:06:02 - Resistance Money, Privacy, and...

Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who is best known for revolutionizing Zcash. After cooperating to fix the inflation bug in the first version of the network, he built Halo to remove the trusted setup – basically obliterating the main reason why Bitcoin did not activate the Zerocash soft fork in 2013. More recently, Sean Bowe announced project Tachyon: an ambitious initiative to scale ZK SNARKs (the technology enabling shielded transactions) to billions of users. Time stamps: 00:01:19 - Sean Bowe's Work on Zcash and Hidden Inflation Bug Fix 00:01:36 - Introduction to Halo and Halo 2: Eliminating Trusted Setup 00:01:51 - Overview of Project Ta...

On October 1st 2025, Paxful announced the decision to "wind down operations" and blamed the "misconduct" of co-founder Ray Youssef for the company's trajectory. But Ray Youssef had already moved on since 2023, building NoOnes as a non-US entity which better serves the peer to peer needs of the Global South. In this episode, Ray explains what's going on and what he's planning to do next. Time stamps: 00:01:08 - Introducing Ray Youssef 00:01:15 - Discussion on Paxful Termination and NoOnes as a Better Alternative 00:01:29 - Ray Youssef Accused of Undermining Paxful 00:02:54 - Paxful Press Release on Winding Down Operations 00:03:31 - Ray Youssef's Response...

Jay Berg joined Bitcoin in 2010 and became the first person to tweet about BTCUSD when the price hit a new high of $12. In this episode, he talks about why most Bitcoiners are wrong in their recent filter debate and how SidePit aims to fix trading. Time stamps: 00:01:57 - Hot take: Maxis wrong, shitcoining new Bitcoining 00:03:00 - Bitcoin kernel: Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Lightning, Liquid 00:03:23 - Bitcoin failed as P2P cash 00:04:09 - Filters vs. OP_RETURN debate 00:05:18 - Luke Dash Jr. fork prediction 00:05:45 - Original sin: No OP_CTV (BIP 119) 00:06:47 - 2017 civil war: Gavin Andresen, Mike Hearn 00:07:45 - Craig Wright conspiracy 00:08:42...

Christopher Smith (aka Yuvi Lightman, aka Ganesha 1024) is the founder of the Quantus network: an mbitious quantum-zk blockchain which he proudly built with his team in just 6 months, with a budget of $500k. In this episode we talk about the threat of quantum computing, how quantum resistant cryptography works, and how Bitcoin can be saved from a potential disaster. Time stamps: 00:01:31 - Introducing Christopher Smith (Yuvi Lightman), known on Soundcloud Music as Ganesha1024 00:02:22 - Quantis: Zero-Knowledge Quantum-Resistant Blockchain 00:02:39 - Christopher's Background, Early Bitcoin Involvement 00:03:41 - Current Views on Bitcoin, All-Time High at $125K 00:04:19 - Discovering Bitcoin in 2012, Contributions to BitcoinJ 00:04:36...

Max Hillebrand makes his 8th appearance on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast in order to talk about his latest project: White Noise, a private messaging application for Nostr. We also talk about Core v30 vs Knots, Bitcoin layer 2s & other bull market topics. Time stamps: 00:01:07 - Max Hillebrand's Background 00:02:47 - Post-Wasabi Wallet Era and Privacy Challenges 00:04:28 - Nostr Protocol Overview 00:05:58 - Early Nostr Experiences and Key Loss 00:08:51 - Nostr Client Progress and Edge Cases 00:09:58 - Nostr's Relation to Bitcoin 00:13:53 - Hardware Wallets for Nostr Keys 00:18:06 - Nostr Key Backups and Security 00:21:53 - Nostr Search and Web of Trust 00:24:21 - Ads: Bitcoin...

Back in 2013, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Val Venis bought 24 bitcoins for $80 each. Today, he is a big advocate for freedom, privacy, and the right to benefit from the product of your own labor without extortion. In this episode, we talk about libertarianism, his love for private internet money, and his WWE stories. Time stamps: 00:00:00 - Intro: Val Venis Entrance & Attitude Era Reflections 00:01:51 - Hello Biological Ladies: Modern PC Culture & Twitter Feuds 00:02:46 - Wrestling Eras: From Attitude to Ruthless Aggression & PG Shift 00:03:30 - Political Outspokenness: Why No Hall of Fame Yet? 00:04:35 - Importance of Politics: Social & Financial Impacts on Society 00:05:13...

Shai Wyborski is one of the three co-authors of the GHOSTDAG paper, and a man who takes pride in his independent thinking and divergent approach to research. As a PhD in quantum cryptography, he's got lots of knowledge to share. But by virtue of his involvement in Bitcoin and Kaspa, he's got stories to tell too. What does the future of Proof of Work look like? Let's find out! Time stamps: 00:01:09 - Welcoming Shai Wyborski 00:01:28 - Dig into GhostDAG; most interesting PoW scaling tech. 00:04:44 - Shai's BTC opinions over time 00:05:21 - How Shai spent BTC on "creativity fuel" (undisclosed). 00:06:31...

Abdel is a Starkware engineer who, over the last 7 years, went from building EIP 1559 on Ethereum to becoming a Bitcoin maximalist who wants ZK STARKs to happen. In this episode, we talk about his journey & some of Bitcoin's cultural issues. Time stamps: 00:00:59 - Sponsors: Sideshift, Citrea, Bitcoin.com News, LayerTwo Labs, NoOnes.com 00:01:38 - Abdel's unique journey: From Ethereum core dev at ConsenSys to Bitcoin maximalism 00:02:17 - Early Bitcoin curiosity (2011-2012) vs Ethereum's "world computer" appeal 00:03:51 - Fintech background: Working for banks before fighting them 00:04:31 - Always a Bitcoin + Ethereum maxi: Building unstoppable systems 00:06:07 - North Star vs "Nostr": Unstoppable...

Vikrant Sharma, better known as Vik, is the CEO and founder of Cake Wallet: the first Bitcoin wallet to support both Silent Payments and PayJoins. In this episode, we talk about the wallet's Monero roots & what is next in terms of features. Time stamps: 00:01:05 - Introducing Vik 00:01:24 - Cake Wallet Features for Bitcoin and Monero 00:03:08 - Background Sync Improvements 00:03:49 - Monero.com Wallet Discussion 00:04:41 - Monero Community Insights 00:05:01 - Privacy in Monero Transactions 00:06:33 - Funding and Revenue Model 00:08:29 - Vik's Background in Steel and Tech 00:10:34 - Discovering Bitcoin and Privacy Apps 00:13:22 - Launching Cakewallet for Monero 00:14:23 - Why Start with...

Michael Tidwell is the organizer of Tabconf, the longest running Bitcoin technical conference which takes place every year in Atlanta. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin drama & use a fun roulette game to figure out who's guilty of it. Time stamps: 00:01:09 - Welcome and episode gimmick intro 00:01:30 - Sponsors shoutout 00:01:36 - Bitcoin drama discussion starts 00:03:38 - Bitcoin Core vs Knots debate 00:04:28 - Wheel spin: Blame the plebs 00:06:52 - Egg pick: Solution is "use tabs" 00:07:56 - Adam Back's "use tabs" context from 2017 00:09:09 - Paul Sztorc's role and personality 00:10:52 - Defining "pleb" in Bitcoin culture 00:13:42 - Hodlonaut story and Lightning Torch 00:16:32...

Yonatan Sompolinsky is an academic in the field of computer science, best known for his work on the GHOST protocol (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree, which was cited in the Ethereum whitepaper) and the way he applied his research to create Kaspa. In this episode, we talk about scaling Proof of Work and why Kaspa might be a worthy contender to process global payments. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 00:01:22 - Debunking rumors: Why some think Yonatan is Satoshi Nakamoto 00:02:52 - Candidates for Satoshi: Charles Hoskinson, Charlie Lee, Zooko, and Alex Chepurnoy 00:03:41 - Alex Chepurnoy as a Satoshi-like figure 00:04:07 - Kaspa overview: DAG structure, no orphaned blocks, generalization of Bitcoin 00:04:55 - Similarities betwe...

Cory Klippsten is the CEO of Swan Bitcoin and has a long history in both traditional finance and the Bitcoin space. In this two-part episode, he talks about why Bitcoin is winning and how the culture around it has changed.

Karl Kreder, better known as Dr. K, is best known in the space for researching the use of merged-mined subnets to scale Proof of Work in 2018 – a concept which led to the launch of the Quai Network, which introduced the Proof of Entropy Minima (PoEM) consensus for high transaction throughput within a decentralized environment. Today, we talk about his views on Bitcoin, why Proof of Work is still relevant in a world that's converging towards the more convenient Proof of Stake, and how the Quai Network works. Time stamps: 00:00 Intro & Welcome 00:03:00 Discussion Length Challenge 00:04:00 Dr. K's Bitcoin Background 00:06:00 Wallet Security & La...

Sergej Kotliar is the CEO of Bitrefill, while Matt Ahlborg recently created PPQ.AI to enable millions of users to experience LLMs without expensive subscriptions. But how are bitcoin payments doing? In this episode, they present their latest stats. Time stamps: 00:00:48 – Introducing Sergej Kotliar and Matt Aalborg 00:02:20 – Bitrefill’s Lightning Network Experience & Payment Trends 00:04:13 – Shift from Bitcoin Maximalism to Multi-Chain Usage 00:05:47 – Tron, Ethereum, and Payment Method Comparisons 00:10:04 – Defining Post-Maximalism 00:11:08 – Changing Morality and Ideology in Bitcoin 00:13:12 – Proof of Reserves & Bitcoin Company Transparency 00:14:15 – Bitrefill’s Payment Method Rankings 00:18:00 – Payment Method Percentages & Dashboard Usage 00:20:21 – Decline in On-Chain Bitcoin Payments 00:24:46 – Popular Wallets for Bitrefill Purchases 00:27:53 – Bitre...

Simplicity, a scripting language so simple that it can fit on a t-shirt, has finally launched on Liquid after a decade of development. Andrew Poelstra, who works as director of research at Blockstream, explains how it works & why it's good for Bitcoin. Time stamps: (00:00:50) Introducing Andrew Poelstra (00:01:45) Simplicity: Now Live on Liquid (00:02:12) Elements and Liquid’s Technical Evolution (00:03:09) Is Simplicity a Response to Solidity? (00:05:40) Simplicity’s Programming Model & Rust Inspiration (00:08:04) Demo Applications and Simplicity Playground (00:10:03) Why Not Stick with Bitcoin Script? (00:11:48) Bitcoin Script’s Limitations and Quirks (00:19:14) Simplicity’s Capabilities: Computation & Covenants (00:22:26) Formal Verification and Multi-Language Implementations (00:25:21) Machine-Checkable Proofs and Contract...

Alephium is one of the most interesting Proof of Work projects, which aims to build secure smart contracts & fast DeFi on a mineable base layer which minimizes electricity consumption. Maud Bannwart & Cheng Wang explain how all of this works. Time stamps: 00:00:53 – Introducing Cheng & Maud 00:02:06 – Alephium's Origins & Motivation Cheng explains the technical challenge of blockchain scalability and the project's evolution from sharding to DeFi. 00:04:36 – Choosing UTXO vs. Account Model Why Alephium uses the UTXO model for assets and account model for application state, combining both for scalability. 00:09:50 – Privacy and UTXO Model Advantages of UTXO for privacy and scalability, and how it enables...

Hunter Beast is the author of BIP 360: a proposal that seeks to provide quantum resistance to Bitcoin, to prevent powerful computer builders from brute forcing arbitrary addresses to steal the funds. But is the quantum threat real? Does the number of qubits really make a difference when the quantum computer is general purpose? Shouldn't other industries outside of Bitcoin, especially governments and banks, be worried about the fragility of elliptic curve cryptography? In this episode, we'll try to answer some of these questions and also refer to Hunter Beast's previous experience with building RGB for Bitcoin tokens. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 01:08 - Introducing Hunter Beast 01:27 - BIP 360 and Quantum R...

Prof. Richard Werner, one of the world's most famous economists, is best known for writing "Princes of the Yen" and penning the term "quantitative easing" in the 1990s while working at the Bank of Japan. Today, he is a big advocate for small local banks and a believer in the power of Bitcoin. In this episode, he talks about recent events in economics, ranging from the Big Beautiful Bill in the US and all the way to CBDCs and Bitcoin's viability to bring more economic freedom to the world. –––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 00:00 - Introducing Professor Richard Werner, author of Princes of the Yen and originator of quantitative easin...

Liz Steininger is the CEO of Least Authority: a company which specializes in auditing open source software since 2014. Originally founded by Zooko Wilcox, Least Authority has conducted more than 100 security audits in the space. Some of the best known contractors who requested an expert review include the Ethereum Foundation, the Electric Coin Company, Metamask, the KeyStone hardware wallet, and Avalanche. Least Authority also builds products that make use of Zero Knowledge Proofs: PrivateStorage (a cloud storage system that's designed to make the host unaware of the files being stored), ZKAPs (Zero Knowledge Access Passes, an authorization system that separates the...

Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski are working to build Cypher Space: a privacy & sovereignty company. In this episode, they compare + rate the privacy of Bitcoin, Monero, Zcash, Firo, Mimble Wimble (Litecoin, Grin), Zano & Beam. Time stamps: (00:00:59) Introducing Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski (00:02:04) Tribalism and Privacy Protocols in Crypto (00:03:55) Why Privacy Matters & Personal Motivations (00:04:58) Diego’s Background and Cypher Stack (00:06:58) Luke’s Background and Mathematical Perspective (00:08:40) CoinJoin and the Limits of Bitcoin Privacy (00:09:10) Threat Models and Privacy Tool Selection (00:12:22) CoinJoin’s Effectiveness and Metadata Attacks (00:14:18) Comparing CoinJoin to Tor/VPN Usage (00:17:26) Overconfidence and Under-Researched Privacy Claims (00:19:52) Levels of Privacy and User Education (00:24:31) Defining Advers...

Andrew Camilleri, better known as Kukks, is one of the most prolific contributors to BTCPay Server & an advocate for using bitcoin as money. Recently, he started building Bitcoin Layer 2 applications for Ark Labs & believes in conservative improvements. Time stamps: (00:00:49) Introduction & Andrew’s Background (00:01:46) Getting Into Bitcoin & Altcoin Integrations (00:03:02) Focusing on Bitcoin & Monero Plugin (00:04:04) BTCPay Plugins & Community (00:04:22) Bitcoin’s Imperfections & Altcoin Use Cases (00:04:55) Pessimism & Stagnation in Bitcoin Development (00:05:16) Introduction to Ark & Its Evolution (00:06:10) Ark’s Technical Evolution (00:07:31) Ark’s Impact on Developer Morale (00:07:36) What is Ark? (00:09:08) Ark’s Virtual Ledger & Dust Problem (00:09:59) Off-Chain Payments & User Experience (00:11:07) Lightning Network vs. Ark (00:13:21) Custodial Lightning...

Peter Rizun is the chief scientist at Bitcoin Unlimited: a software client that aims to scale Bitcoin with big blocks, while also empowering regular users to run nodes. In this episode, we talk about what went wrong during the block size wars & his research in scaling hardware. Time stamps: 00:01:15 — Introducing Peter Rizun 00:03:32 — Early Block Size Debates and Satoshi’s Vision 00:07:45 — Block Size Limit History and Miner Soft Limits 00:10:10 — Dan Kaminsky’s 2011 Scaling Predictions 00:12:01 — Scaling Philosophy: Zero, One, Infinity and Earth-Scale 00:15:09 — Block Size Wars, Chain Splits, and Altcoin Proliferation 00:16:43 — Stablecoins, Lightning, and Bitcoin’s Use Case 00:19:03 — Zcash, Ethereum, and Bitcoin’s Missed Opportunities 00...

Zooko has been thinking about building decentralized Chaumian ecash since the mid 1990s. When Bitcoin came out, he was the first cypherpunk to write a blog post about it. And today, he's honoring Satoshi's last wish of researching ZK proofs with Zcash. Time stamps: Introducing Zooko (00:00:55) Early Cypherpunk and Digital Cash Days (00:03:18) Cypherpunk vs. Cryptography Mailing List (00:03:52) Discovering Digital Cash and Chaum’s Blind Signing (00:04:44) The Internet, BBS, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (00:09:10) Growing Up with Technology in Eastern Europe (00:12:04) First Computers and Early Programming (00:13:02) Loading Games and Computer Limitations (00:14:05) Impact of Tariffs and Internet Access (00:16:47) Economies of Sc...

In a predominantly Proof of Stake world, The Proof of Work Alliance emerges as a champion of research & education among Proof of Work miners. Fractal Bitcoin's Charles Chong & Spencer Yang, plus Bitmars' ASIC Queen Summer Meng tell us how it all works. Time stamps: Introducing Charles, Summer & Spencer (00:00:50) Overview of the PoW Alliance (00:01:43) Challenges in Launching PoW Projects (00:02:32) Formation of the PoW Alliance (00:04:19) Importance of Collaboration (00:05:21) Significance of the PoW Alliance (00:06:48) Members of the PoW Alliance (00:08:26) Addressing Environmental Concerns (00:09:24) Renewable Energy in Bitcoin Mining (00:10:29) Electricity Usage Comparisons (00:12:37) AI and Bitcoin Mining Competition (00:15:21) Centralization vs. Decentralization in Alliances (00:20:55) Discussion on Risk...

David Seroy works at Alpen Labs: the company which aims to bring an extended suite of financial applications to Bitcoin via ZK (Zero Knowledge) rollups. In this episode, we talk about the ideological divide in Bitcoin between builders & moonbois. Time stamps: Introduction to the Episode (00:00:56) Background on Alpine Labs (00:02:08) The Concept of ZK Rollups (00:05:00) Comparing Alpen Labs with Drivechains (00:08:04) Concerns About Data Usage (00:10:18) Nuances of Data Posting (00:12:41) Opposition to Rollup Data (00:13:47) Filtering Transaction Data (00:14:43) Consensus on Bitcoin Usage (00:17:31) The Complexity of Changing Bitcoin (00:19:39) Historical Context of Data Insertion (00:22:29) Creating Layers on Bitcoin (00:22:43) Scaling Bitcoin Beyond Marketing Drama (00:23:28) Trust Assumptions in...

Mark Edge is a libertarian radio veteran best known for co-hosting Free Talk Radio: a show that's responsible for helping lots of OGs discover Bitcoin. In this episode, he explains why his co-host Ian Freeman is unfairly imprisoned and needs our help.

Chandra Duggirala & George Burke are co-founders of Portal: an ambitious project which aims to replace centralized exchanges with atomic swaps across chains. By using technologies like BitScaler, Portal OS & RAFA AI, Portal is a serious contender. ------------- Time stamps: Introducing Chandra & George (00:01:02) Portal's Mission (00:02:26) Trust Minimization Explained (00:03:32) Evolution of Portal's Technology (00:04:55) Bit Scaler (00:06:08) Removing Trust in Exchanges (00:08:28) AI Integration in Financial Markets (00:09:44) Clarification on Lightning Network (00:11:39) Bit Scaler vs. Lightning Network (00:12:04) Channel Factories Explained (00:15:27) Automated Market Makers Overview (00:18:04) Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchanges (00:20:57) Challenges of Atomic Swaps (00:24:15) Critique of Cross-Chain Solutions (00:25:17) Understanding Cap Structure (00:26:22) Self-Custody in Bitcoin (00:26:57) Toxic Approach to Bitcoin...

Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum, but he's also a true Bitcoin maximalist. In this episode, Vitalik tells his story as a bitcoiner, explains why he built Ethereum, and makes use of his knowledge to predict the future of the two networks. Time stamps: Introducing Vitalik (00:01:00) Vitalik's Early Involvement with Bitcoin (00:02:22) Writing for Bitcoin Weekly (00:03:01) Bitcoin's Early Fees and Transaction Model (00:06:45) Evolving Understanding of Bitcoin (00:09:15) Bitcoin Cash and the Scaling Debate (00:10:25) Dark Wallet Project (00:14:06) Coinjoin and Privacy Innovations (00:16:41) Colored Coins and Bitcoin 2.0 (00:21:05) Transition to Ethereum Development (00:21:58) Current Layer Two Innovations (00:24:11) Scaling and Privacy Innovations (00:25:55) Ethereum's Early Criticism (00:27:05) EVM's Role...

James O'Beirne is a Bitcoin developer who's not afraid to support unpopular improvement proposals: recently, he spoke about increasing the block size on the stage of OP_NEXT. He also works on CTV & CSFS, and tends to favor technical data over clout. Time stamps: 00:00:52 - Introducing James O'Beirne 00:02:00 - James O'Beirne's Current Bitcoin Core Contributions (CTV/CSFS) 00:02:55 - Shared Motivations and Concerns About Bitcoin Scaling & Financialization 00:05:24 - Discussing New Opcodes (CTV, CSFS, CAT) and MEV Risk 00:06:45 - OP_CAT: Existing Implementations, Unknown Unknowns, and Layer 2 Scaling Needs 00:08:26 - Ordinals Controversy, Permissionless Transactions, and Miner Security Budget 00:11:11 - Security Budget Concerns...

J-Dog is the former maintainer of Bitcoin's Counterparty protocol – a role which he fulfilled for about 8 years. Under his stewardship, XCP witnessed the creation of legendary collections such as Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepes, and Fake Rares – even my Bitcoin Heads and Leftist Tears were created when he was the lead developer and he provided some useful advice. Today, J-Dog builds the FreeWallet.io Counterparty wallet and the TokenScan.io blockchain explorer (formerly Xchain.io). He maintains opinions which diverge from those of current maintainer Adam Krellenstein (who joined the show in S16 E14) and even claims that the Counterparty prot...

Filip Baturan is the CEO of Tanari – a decentralized finance application suite that's built on top of Citrea. With it, bitcoiners can enjoy the features and user experience from banking applications such as Revolut... but within a self-custodial and sovereign environment, where the user sets the rules. The discussion centers around Tanari's vision to make Bitcoin more useful and replace the current financial system, contrasting it with projects that merely embed Bitcoin into existing structures. Baturan explains that Tanari aims to deliver on Bitcoin's promise of self-custody and financial system replacement, drawing inspiration from the ideal financial system rather than sp...

Felix Billbert is the Chief Maximalist at Wave Space: a European company which specializes in making bitcoin easy to spend. They offer a Visa debit card, a swapping service for BTC/EUR pair, Lightning network support... all of which is wrapped inside a non-custodial environment. The conversation explores the challenges of building a Bitcoin business in Europe, particularly navigating regulations like MiCA. Felix explains how Wave Space partners with a licensed entity to handle KYC/AML compliance, including the complexities of verifying the source of funds for Lightning Network transactions. The discussion touches on the competitive landscape, comparing Wave Space...

In 2014, Daniel Krawisz was one of the most prolific Bitcoin writers: he published some excellent articles with the Nakamoto Institute, and most of them are still relevant. Today, he prefers BSV and believes that Craig Wright is Satoshi. What changed? Time stamps: Time stamps: 00:00:50 - Introducing Daniel Krawisz 00:02:40 - Bitcoin Takeover 00:05:30 - Scaling Bitcoin 00:09:30 - Soft Forks vs. Hard Forks 00:14:10 - Running a Bitcoin Node and Privacy 00:18:10 - Verifying Transactions 00:20:00 - Miner Centralization 00:24:40 - Bitcoin Core Ideology 00:29:00 - Fungibility 00:30:30 - Ross Ulbricht 00:38:55 - Bitcoin's Competitive Advantage 00:44:00 - Bitcoin and Legality 00:48:50 - Sound Money and Friendship 00:50:40 - Satoshi Nakamoto's Identity 00:57:20...

Privacy has had a couple of rough years: companies & protocols shut down, developers got arrested, governments issued new regulations... regardless, Rockstar Dev & Max Hillebrand join the show to discuss privacy & open source tools for sovereignty.

Ben Arc is the creator of LNBits: a modular Lightning network wallet which, after 5 years of development, has just launched version 1. To celebrate this remarkable milestone, ”the CEO of Nostr” joins the show to talk about everything interesting in Bitcoin. Time stamps: 00:00:53 - Introducing Ben Arc 00:01:08 - Ben Arc and LNBits V1 00:02:23 - LNBits beta version and V1 release 00:02:36 - Amir Taaki's Post-Syria Experience 00:03:08 - Rojava and Anarcho-Syndicalism 00:04:08 - LNBits development timeline 00:05:16 - Early stages of LNBits and Lightning 00:05:33 - Disillusionment in Bitcoin Space 00:07:20 - Stepan Snigirev and Specter DIY 00:08:11 - Modularity and extensions in LNBits 00:08:38 - Nostr and Bitcoin's Futu...

Andreas Brekken is best known for creating SideShift.ai and acting as the CEO of Shitcoin.com. In this episode, he talks about his views on Bitcoin development, the emergence of DeFi, and the reasons why he considers cryptocurrencies superior to fiat. Time stamps: Introducing Andreas Brekken (00:00:51) The Sam Bankman-Fried Interview on Shitcoin.com (00:01:50) Clustering Analysis and Customer Funds (00:02:44) Bybit's Technical Issues (00:05:18) Historical Context of Exchanges (00:09:26) Shapeshift's KYC Moment (00:11:13) Why Aren’t Zcash and Monero on SideShift? (00:14:59) Bitcoin Cash Hard Forks (00:20:45) Lightning Network Integration (00:22:23) Vulnerabilities in the Lightning Protocol (00:26:17) Critique of Lightning Network's Design (00:28:29) Submarine Swaps (00:29:28) LNBits v1 Launch (00:29:44) Lightning Wa...

Marko Tarman has been mining Bitcoin since 2012 – and today, he works as Lead Mining Manager at NiceHash. In this episode, we talk about the current trends in Proof of Work mining and the commodification of hash rate.

Adam Krellenstein is one of the co-founders of Counterparty and the current maintainer of the protocol. In this episode, he talks about his plan to improve Bitcoin native tokens and why you should consider giving XCP a chance. Time stamps: Introducing Adam Krellenstein (00:00:50) Counterparty’s Unique Features (00:01:30) Historical Significance of Counterparty (00:02:09) Comparison with Mastercoin/Omni (00:03:19) The Birth of Bitcoin Maximalism (00:04:48) Vitalik’s Influence and Ethereum (00:08:43) Pushback from Bitcoin Core Developers (00:09:16) Concerns about Data Storage on Bitcoin (00:10:36) Counterparty Software and Decentralization (00:12:51) Art and NFTs in Counterparty (00:14:51) Airdrop Announcement (00:14:24) Off-Chain Data Storage Challenges (00:16:00) Counterparty’s Original Vision (00:18:19) The Popularity of Digital Art (00:18:51) The Ro...

Corbin Fraser is the new CEO of Bitcoin.com. In this episode, he talks about the Scaling Wars, his perspective as a BCH advocate, and the lessons the market taught him over the years. Also, he explains why the news section of Bitcoin.com improved. Introducing Corbin Fraser (00:00:50) Bitcoin.com’s Evolution (00:01:52) Support for Multiple Cryptocurrencies (00:03:05) Challenges of Tribalism in Crypto (00:06:51) Origins of Bitcoin Cash (00:09:07) The Scaling Wars (00:12:14) Misconceptions About BCH Leadership (00:15:23) The Meme Warfare (00:18:31) Promoting Token Swaps (00:20:09) Bitcoin.com News and Geopolitics (00:21:16) Respect for Peter Schiff (00:22:01) Occupy Wall Street Insights (00:22:12) Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin Debate (00:24:25) Vitalik's Perspective on Forks (00:25:04) No...

Martti Malmi, aka Sirius, was Satoshi Nakamoto's closest collaborator between 2009 and 2010. In this episode, he reminisces about the early days of Bitcoin, but also describes his recent adventures with Nostr & the Lightning Network. Time stamps: Introducing Martti (00:00:48) Martti's Work on Nostr (00:02:03) Nostr's Origins and Purpose (00:03:31) Self-Custodial Nature of Nostr (00:04:13) Early Bitcoin Perceptions (00:05:25) Understanding Bitcoin's Value (00:07:21) How Martti Malmi Discovered Bitcoin (00:08:21) Contributions to Bitcoin (00:09:41) Development of Bitcoin Exchange (00:12:53) Pioneering Real Estate Transactions (00:14:45) Reflections on Selling Bitcoin (00:15:27) Celebrating Pizza Day (00:16:18) Market Demand for Bitcoin (00:17:14) Regrets About Bitcoin Spending (00:17:27) Privacy in Bitcoin (00:20:23) Lightning Network Integration (00:22:47) Concerns About Censorship (00:23:41) The Evolution of the Lightning...

Despite your bad memories from the Block Size war, you should support Roger Ver's campaign for clemency – or at least this is what Layer Two Labs CEO Paul Sztorc thinks you should do. In this episode, we discuss why Roger deserves to stay free. Time stamps: Introducing Paul Sztorc (00:00:54) The host welcomes listeners and introduces guest Paul Sztorc, discussing Roger Ver's situation. Paul's Connection with Roger Ver (00:01:42) Paul shares his connection to Roger Ver and his experiences in the Bitcoin community. Roger Ver's Contributions (00:02:54) Discussion on Roger's significant investments and efforts in early Bitcoin companies. Challenges at Mt. Gox (00:03:59) Paul re...

In recent years, Bitcoin has undergone a major culture shift which promotes stagnation, complacency & simping to politicians over maximizing the utility of the money. Eric Voskuil & John Carvalho join the show to remind everyone what the mission really is. State of Bitcoin - [00:01:17] Bitcoin Maximalism - [00:01:32] Bitcoin as a Ponzi Scheme - [00:02:27] Transaction Fees - [00:04:57] History of Bitcoin Tokens (Omni, Counterparty, Mastercoin) Definition of Tokens - [00:08:01] Custodial Problems with Tokens - [00:09:12] Bitcoin and Fiat Money - [00:11:09] Why Bitcoiners Talk About Money - [00:15:49] Stateless Money - [00:17:44] Austrian Economics and Bitcoin - [00:21:01] Monetary Inflation vs. Price Inflation - [00:26:01] Cantillon Effect - [00:29:00] Dollar...

Saunter is a designer and bitcoin advocate who works at Alby: one of the most popular Lightning network wallets. In this episode, he describes his experiences with onboarding new users and increasing adoption around the world. Time stamps: Introducing Saunter (00:00:51) Evolution of Alby Wallet (00:01:38) Functionalities of the Alby Wallet (00:02:26) Lightning Business Model Challenges (00:05:46) Bitcoin as a Medium of Exchange (00:07:45) Adoption in Central America (00:09:55) Degrees of Bitcoin Adoption (00:12:59) Integration with Local Payment Systems (00:18:07) Educational Initiatives in El Salvador (00:20:43) Current State of Adoption (00:22:43) Chivo Wallet (00:25:46) Top-Down Adoption Issues (00:28:10) Grassroots Initiatives (00:30:46) Alby Wallet Features (00:35:33) Nostr Integration (00:36:08) Programmability of Bitcoin Lightning (00:39:57) Self-Hosting and Lightning...

Launched on January 3rd 2019, a whole decade after Bitcoin, Beam is the first MimbleWimble implementation to hit the markets. Unlike its smiley cousin Grin, Beam is organized more like a start-up, was more efficient in raising VC funding, and appears to focus more on smart contracts and interoperability with other chains. In this episode, Beam CTO Alex Romanov explains everything about the network: what it is, how it works, and what it aims to accomplish with the MimbleWimble technology. Time stamps: Introducing Alex Romanov (00:00:24) Beam's Launch and MimbleWimble (00:00:50) Alex's Journey to Beam (00:03:01) Beam vs. Monero vs. Zcash (00:04:25) Technical Aspects of...

The life of Michael Parenti is truly extraordinary, as he witnessed two significant cultural movements that changed the word. Growing up in Malibu, he went to school with the likes of Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen, met a young Madonna before she was an international star, hung out in Bob Dylan's house, and saw live acts like Nirvana and Red Hot Chilli Peppers long before MTV made them famous. As an internet entrepreneur, he became involved with the Bitcoin Foundation and also saw the early days of Ethereum. He attended hundreds of events, spoke with some of the people who...

Bitcoin developer Super Testnet argues that the Lightning Network is more private – and therefore better suited for darknet markets than Monero. In this episode, he breaks down all the nuances involved and defines good financial privacy. Time stamps: Introducing Super Testnet (00:00:48) Lightning on Dark Web Markets (00:01:08) Lightning Network Privacy Features (00:01:40) Analysis of Sender and Receiver Privacy (00:02:02) Onion Routing Explanation (00:03:07) Invoice Privacy Comparison (00:04:36) Transaction Visibility in Monero? (00:06:08) Information Storage in Lightning (00:07:12) Liquidity and Large Transactions (00:08:10) Amount Privacy in Lightning (00:09:34) Private Channels in Lightning (00:11:25) Routing Nodes and Privacy (00:13:59) How Monero Transactions Work (00:15:08) Encryption Standards in Monero (00:16:01) Recipient Privacy in Monero (00:17:54) Privacy Tech (00:18:52) Ne...

Reuben Yap is one of the co-founders of Firo (previously Zcoin): an implementation of the Zerocoin paper from 2013, which was first proposed as a Bitcoin soft fork to improve the network's privacy via Zero Knowledge proofs. Time stamps: Introducing Reuben Yap (00:00:48) Reuben's Article on Tribalism (00:01:35) History of Privacy Proposals Zero Coin & Zero Cash (00:04:29) Firo vs. Zcash (00:06:25) Lelantus Protocol Explanation (00:10:47) Importance of Lelantus (00:14:48) Testing and Integration of Privacy Features (00:17:33) Challenges of Confidential Transactions (00:19:24) Cryptocurrency Features and Use Cases (00:21:57) Privacy Sacrifices in Scalability (00:22:53) Introduction of CoinJoin (00:23:48) CoinJoin vs. Mixing (00:24:05) Privacy Limitations of CoinJoin (00:25:27) User Experience Challenges (00:27:35) Regulatory Concerns for Mixing Services (00:28:42) Confidential...

John Light is a researcher who specializes in bringing Zero Knowledge cryptography to supplement Bitcoin's limitations in scalability & privacy. With ZK rollups, Bitcoin stands a better chance to onboard 8 billion people onto trust-minimized layer 2s. Time stamps: Introducing John Light (00:00:50) John's Work at Alpen Labs (00:01:35) Strata: A New zk Optimistic Rollup (00:02:35) Understanding BitVM (00:02:52) BitVM 1 vs BitVM 2 (00:03:14) Challenge and Response Mechanism to Prevent Cheating (00:05:03) BitVM vs Lightning Network (00:06:19) Security of BitVM 2 (00:07:26) Soft Forks and BitVM (00:13:01) Potential Improvements from Soft Forks (00:14:06) Citrea vs. Strata ZK Rollup Tech (00:15:58) Side Chains vs. Rollups (00:17:46) Data Availability in Rollups (00:20:44) Transaction Fees for Bitcoin Miners (00:23:19) Token Requirement...

Bitcoin OG Charlie Shrem is now the chief evangelist of a project called Digital Gold (DGD). In this episode, I ask him and his business partner John Gotts all the important questions about the legitimacy of their new cryptocurrency. Time stamps: Introducing Charlie Shrem & Digital Gold Jedi (00:00:48) Is Charlie Still Bullish on Bitcoin? (00:01:40) From Bitcoin to Digital Gold (00:02:05) Details of the Digital Gold Project (00:04:52) Stability and Value Preservation? (00:05:37) Community Engagement and User Growth (00:08:34) Comparison with BitTorrent (00:09:01) There Are Thousands of Digital Golds (00:14:28) Unique Features of the Digital Gold Project (00:15:08) Which Wallets and Exchanges Support Digital Gold? (00:17:05) Community Engagement and Validation (00:17:55) ...

Time stamps: Introducing Liam (00:00:25) Shielded Client-Side Validation (00:01:53) Challenges in Bitcoin Development (00:05:36) The Soft Fork Independence of Shielded CSV (00:06:31) Introduction to OP_CAT (00:06:31) Opinions on Bitcoin Covenant Proposals (00:07:06) Integer Arithmetic in Bitcoin (00:09:26) Alpen Labs and Their Projects (00:12:23) Optimistic vs. Optimistically Verified zk Rollups (00:15:05) Data Availability Issues in Rollups (00:16:02) Zcash and Mobile Wallets (00:21:03) Philosophical Debate on Bitcoin's Future (00:22:21) Comparing Lightning Network and Shielded CSV (00:25:40) Layer Two Labs andDrive Chain (00:28:52) Sidechains vs. Rollups (00:29:55) Citrea and DeFi Potential (00:31:14) Rollups' Data Handling (00:32:50) Advantages of Sidechains (00:33:56) Drivechains Overview (00:35:10) Citrea vs. Alpen Labs (00:37:13) Collaboration in Bitcoin L2 Space (00:38:43) Existential Question on Bitcoin Privacy (00:40:02) Political Capital and Bitcoin's...

Mike Belshe is the co-founder and CEO of BitGo. As a Bitcoin and internet pioneer, he has witnessed some of the most significant phenomena and can draw some really interesting parallels between the two complementary realms. Time stamps: Introducing Mike Belshe (00:00:42) Mike Belshe's Background (00:01:58) Self-Custody vs. Institutional Custody (00:02:05) Multi-Signature Technology (00:03:56) Understanding Multi-Party Computation (00:04:51) Advancements in Cryptography (00:05:53) BitGo's Role in Tokenizing Bitcoin (00:08:26) Defining DeFi's Importance (00:09:09) Mike's Technology Background (00:12:12) Inspiration from Tim Berners-Lee (00:14:57) Bitcoin's Zero Click Payments (00:17:11) Bitcoin Custodianship Issues (00:17:36) Challenges of Bitcoin Payments (00:18:25) Scaling Bitcoin and Lightning Network (00:19:20) Bitcoin's Role in Digital Money (00:20:13) Layer Two Solutions and Drivechains (00:21:15) Scaling Discussions in...

Time stamps: Introducing Amir (00:00:47) Reflections on Bitcoin Privacy (00:01:44) Layer 2 Solutions Discussion (00:02:36) Challenges of Layer 2 Usability (00:04:46) Interest in Layer 2 Proposals (00:05:51) Simplicity in Opcode Development (00:06:54) Concerns Over Opcode Usage (00:08:03) Historical Context of Bitcoin's Scripting Language (00:09:00) Limitations Imposed by Bitcoin's Development (00:11:15) Impact of Ethereum's Creation (00:13:30) Desire for a More Flexible Bitcoin (00:15:10) Exploring BIP 300 and Sidechains (00:16:31) Building Beyond Bitcoin's Constraints (00:17:33) Comparison with Bitcoin Cash (00:19:25) Ethereum's Initial Use Cases (20:33) Challenges with Bitcoin Development (21:25) Political Dynamics in Bitcoin Upgrades (23:00) Governance Issues in Bitcoin (24:04) Accountability in Bitcoin Development (27:01) Corruption in the Bitcoin Foundation (29:18) Personal Experiences with Bitcoin Development (30:13) Hostile Takeover of Bitcoin (32:36) New Visions for Bitcoin's Future (35:05) ...

Time Stamps: Jeff Garzik’s Contributions (00:00:47) Overview of Hemi (00:02:32) Scaling Bitcoin (00:03:11) Challenges with Current Solutions (00:04:17) Lightning Network Use Cases (00:05:04) Goals of Hemi (00:05:56) Integration with Bitcoin (00:07:19) History of Open Source Software (00:08:20) Security and Trust in Established Technologies (00:10:01) Satoshi's Approach to Building Bitcoin (00:12:58) Understanding Proof of Proof (00:14:11) Keystone Element in Hemi (00:16:15) Hi, Amir Taaki! (00:17:39) The Need for Privacy (00:18:31) Shift in Bitcoin's Narrative (00:20:13) Jeff Garzik's Optimism for Bitcoin (00:21:09) Building for the Future (00:23:00) Hemi and SideShift? (00:23:40) Hemi Token? (00:24:18) Practical Use Cases for Hemi (00:25:21) Decentralized Finance and Hemi (00:26:54) Composability in DeFi (00:28:23) Decentralization and Security (00:30:16) Maximalism vs. Moderation (00:33:03) Limitations of Bitcoin Script (00:35:31) Drivechains and Sidechains (00:40:16) Trade-offs of...

Time stamps: Announcing the New Passport Prime (00:01:49) Competitive Landscape of Hardware Wallets (00:03:17) The Challenge to Replace Trezor (00:03:17) Introduction of the Passport Prime (00:05:25) Features of the Passport Prime (00:06:54) Expanding Digital Security (00:08:07) Comparison to Steve Jobs' Presentation (00:08:34) Open Source Platform Development (00:10:34) Microkernel Operating System (00:11:46) Unique Approach to Hardware Wallets (00:14:31) Development Timeline for Passport Prime (00:15:20) Competitor Analysis (00:17:17) Innovation (and Stagnation) in Hardware Wallets (00:21:03) Foundation's Bitcoin-Centric Approach? (00:24:33) Comparison with Ledger's Closed Platform (00:25:57) Developer Ecosystem and App Distribution (00:28:16) Hardware Wallet Industry Challenges (00:29:50) Market Position of Ledger & Trezor (00:30:36) Foundation's Still Manufactured in the USA (00:35:26) Manufacturing Changes in Ledger (00:35:41) Pricing Strategies of Hardware Wallets (00:38:23) Passport Prime Pricing...

Time stamps: Introducing Paul… again! (00:00:46) Core Untouched Soft Work (00:01:56) Peter Todd's Criticism (00:02:19) Debate on Soft Forks (00:04:44) Luke Dash Jr.'s Perspective (00:05:00) SPV Wallets and Full Nodes (00:08:51) Data Availability Issues (00:12:10) Neutrino and Privacy (00:14:16) Dandelion++ Proposal (00:17:05) Quality of Bitcoin Core Development (00:18:45) Libbitcoin’s Fast Sync (00:19:36) Bitcoin Core Limitations (00:20:01) Governance Challenges (00:20:55) 
Responsibility in Development (00:24:39) Mainstream Adoption Concerns (00:25:31) Risk of Centralization (00:26:54) Michael Saylor's Influence (00:27:55) Wrapped Bitcoin and Smart Contracts (00:33:19) Bitcoin Core's Innovation Stagnation (00:34:31) BIP 300 and Soft Forks (00:37:11) Redefining Bitcoin Maximalism (00:38:27) The Miners' Interests (00:40:46) 
Layer Two Labs (00:41:56) Explaining the Core Untouched Soft Work Proposal (00:43:53) Challenges with Soft Fork Activation (00:46:04) Slow Progress of Soft Forks (00:48:12) Competition Among La...

Time stamps: Welcome to the Gymcast! (00:00:51) Rocelo's Introduction (00:01:47) First Bitcoin Transaction (00:02:51) Buying Bitcoin in Tokyo (00:03:17) Meeting Satoshi Nakamoto? (00:05:13) Importance of Physical Fitness for HODLing (00:06:51) Transition from Bitcoin Skeptic to Miner (00:08:22) Future of Bitcoin Mining (00:09:35) From Bitcoin Enthusiast to Kidnapping Victim (00:10:53) Lessons on Operational Security (00:11:34) The Need for Bitcoin Privacy (00:14:13) Discussion on Privacy Solutions (00:15:23) Focus on Liquid and Future Innovations (00:16:14) Bitcoin Privacy and Opsec (17:16) Litecoin's Extension Block (17:33) Comparing Bitcoin and Monero (18:16) Liquid's Adoption Challenges (19:19) Liquid as a Trojan Horse (20:24) USDT's Role in Crypto (23:19) Emerging Market Adoption (25:50) Decentralization Beyond Money (28:24) Self-Custody Advice (30:49) Creative Solutions for Bitcoin Security (32:42) Importance of Privacy in Bitcoin (00:34:31) ...

Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:56) Michael Saylor & Paranoid Crypto Anarchy (00:01:20) Bitcoin Block Size Discussion (00:03:10) Ossification of Bitcoin (00:04:09) Challenges of Second Layer Solutions (00:05:31) Botanics and Spider Chain (00:08:15) Practicality of Innovations (00:09:44) State of the Lightning Network (00:10:14) Liquidity Management in Lightning (00:15:43) Drivechains as a Solution (00:17:00) Cultural Complacency in Bitcoin (00:19:15) The Bull Market vs. Bear Market Metrics (00:20:42) Concerns Over Bitcoin Custodianship (00:22:43) Long-Term Perspective on Bitcoin Governance (00:24:33) Stablecoins in Conference Travel (00:25:42) Privacy Tools and Adoption Challenges (00:28:15) Rollups vs. Sidechains (00:30:12) Monero and Litecoin as Non-Scams (00:31:57) Scaling Challenges in Bitcoin (00:36:10) Economic Perspective on Bitcoin Spam (00:37:43) The Future of Bitcoin Fees (00:39:01) Tail Mission Concept (00:40:05) Bitcoin's 21 Million Cap (00:40:41) Bitcoin Cash Block...

The recent ColliderScript research paper is a game changer: it enables Bitcoin covenants at a high cost, but without requiring any soft fork. It's the most remarkable breakthrough since BitVM and co-author Avihu M. Levy is here to explain how it works! Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:45) Avihu M. Levy's Background in Bitcoin (00:02:25) Covenants in Bitcoin (00:03:43) Impact of Taproot Upgrade (00:06:07) Research Renaissance in Bitcoin (00:08:42) Debate on Taproot's Impact (00:09:18) ColliderScript Paper Overview (00:12:21) Covenants and Script Limitations (00:14:09) Bridging Script Worlds (00:16:11) Importance of Covenants (00:17:34) Covenants and Scaling (00:22:23) Community Sentiment on Covenants (00:23:45) Research and Development for Covenants (00:25:07) Concerns About Covenants (00:25:48) Predicting the Impact of Taproot (00:26:26) Funding...

Time stamps: Introducing David A. Johnston (00:00:51) David's Bitcoin Journey (00:02:34) Bitcoin 2.0 Discussion (00:02:54) Mastercoin and ICOs (00:05:31) Community Reactions to Digital Assets (00:06:31) Bitcoin's Ideological Divide (00:07:46) The Bitcoin 2.0 Panel (00:09:00) Emergence of Ethereum (00:09:30) Irreconcilable Differences (00:10:08) Freedom Maximalism (00:10:28) Toxicity in the Community (00:11:14) Collaboration in Early Bitcoin (00:12:20) Censorship in Development (00:13:27) Market Evolution and Bitcoin's Value (00:16:00) Comparing Bitcoin 2.0 Projects (00:19:42) Ethereum's Egalitarian Approach (00:20:24) The Golden Trinity (00:22:04) Vitalik's Vision for Ethereum (00:23:06) Ethereum vs. Omni (00:24:02) Vitalik's Bitcoin Roots (00:25:23) Decentralized Exchanges (00:26:34) Challenges of Omni Protocol (00:27:31) Bridging Bitcoin and Ethereum (00:28:53) Diversity in Blockchain Approaches (00:31:08) Jeff Garzik's Contributions (00:32:09) Scaling Bitcoin (00:34:43) Interoperability of Networks (00:37:46) Future of Scaling and Privacy (00:38:07) Johnston's Law (00:39:13) The Future of Decentralized...

Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:47) David's Background and Media Interest (00:02:27) Transition to Trump Support (00:03:37) Historic Casascius Bitcoin Moment (00:04:36) Conference Tensions (00:06:02) Trump's Speech and Bitcoin (00:09:21) Missed Opportunities with Elon (00:11:42) Trump's Positive Reception (00:12:47) Understanding the Bitcoin Transition Team (00:14:55) Bitcoin as Real Estate (00:16:28) Transition Team's Bitcoin Ownership (00:17:31) Elon Musk's Influence on Bitcoin (00:19:16) Mars and Bitcoin Transactions (00:21:00) Mainstream Acceptance of Bitcoin (00:22:39) Importance of Voting (00:24:59) Potential Legislative Changes (00:26:09) Regulatory Challenges for Crypto (00:27:19) Business Case for Crypto Services (00:28:42) The Political Reset (00:31:13) Trump's Political Legacy (00:32:18) Bitcoin's Political Opportunity (00:33:32) Grassroots Support for Bitcoin (00:34:46) Immediate Goals for the Bitcoin Community (00:36:11) Bitcoin Education in Schools (00:37:29) The Risks of Political Dependency (00:40:31) Bitcoin's Apolitical...

Time stamps: Introducting Josh & Chris (00:00:50) Criticism of Zcash (00:01:44) Origins of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (00:02:18) Technological Challenges (00:04:00) Need for Internet Cash (00:05:45) Radicalization & Maximalism (00:07:01) Evolution of Zcash Addresses (00:08:19) Transparent vs. Shielded Addresses (00:09:00) Misconceptions About Transparent Addresses (00:12:14) Zcash's Unique Development Story (00:13:12) The Trusted Setup Ceremony (00:14:04) Price and Perception Issues (00:15:35) Impact of ASIC Miners on Zcash (00:17:18) Market Dynamics and Tokenomics (00:18:21) User Experience Developments (00:19:30) Integration with Wallets (00:20:54) Historical Context of Zcash (00:23:51) Community Collaboration (00:24:34) Zero-Sum Game Myth (00:25:40) Toxicity in the Privacy Space (00:27:14) Influence of Zcash (00:29:13) Technical Challenges and Innovations (00:31:18) Implementation Insights (00:32:48) Concerns Over Security (00:34:15) Cryptographic Challenges and Disclosure (00:36:43) Privacy Concerns in Bitcoin (00:37:49) Engineering Confidence in Zcash (00:38:34) Zcash's Relationship...

Time stamps: Introducing Polto & Darko (00:00:50) Top Hardware Wallets (00:01:33) Trade-offs in Multi-Signature Wallets (00:02:06) Importance of Secure Elements (00:03:25) Passphrase Usage and Security (00:04:37) Confusion Around Passphrases (00:06:06) Backing Up Passphrases (00:07:14) BIP 39 and Passphrase Features (00:08:02) Derivation of Wallet Addresses (00:09:39) Standardization of HD Wallets (00:10:01) Best Practices for Backups (00:11:19) Verifying Recovery Procedures (00:12:06) User Experiences with Backups (00:12:57) Full Node Users (00:15:31) Historical Context of Hardware Wallets (00:17:15) Trade-offs in Hardware Wallet Design (00:18:15) Open Source Developments (00:20:35) Secure Elements and Verification Concerns (00:22:43) Understanding Secure Elements in Wallets (00:22:48) Ledger Wallet Features (00:24:08) Using Seed Signer with Satochip Smart Cards (00:24:41) Open Source Secure Element Development (00:25:53) Challenges in Hardware Wallet Evolution (00:26:38) Miniscript Support in Hardware Wallets (00:27:30) ...

Andrey Sabelnikov has a history with the CryptoNote protocol, and even worked under pseudonymous Monero grandfather Nicholas von Saberhagen. Recently, he built Zano with Pavel Nikienkov. It's a protocol for issuing tokens with good privacy. Time Stamps: Introducing Andrey & Pavel (00:00:54) What is Zano? (00:02:46) Hybrid Consensus Mechanism (00:04:50) Challenges of Proof of Stake (00:07:15) Security Aspects of Consensus (00:10:27) Cost of Attacks on Consensus (00:13:13) Nation-State Threats (00:15:09) Open Source Development (00:18:00) User Control and System Integrity (00:20:07) User Interface (21:24) Decentralization in Zano (21:51) Mobile Application Concerns (22:30) Integration with Cake Wallet & Bitcoin.com (23:13) Sideshift & Starkware (24:31) Introduction to Zano (25:59) Zano's Technology Overview (26:40) History with Monero (27:40) Collaboration with Monero Developers (29:51) Background...

MWEB (MimbleWimble Extension Block) is a way to add privacy & extra scalability on a parallel blockchain. First proposed by Andrew Poelstra in 2016, it was quickly forgotten in the Bitcoin world. But thanks to David Burkett, it's now live on Litecoin. Time stamps: Introduction to MWEB and David Burkett (00:00:55) Origins of MWEB (00:01:40) Comparing MWEB to Bitcoin's Taproot (00:02:07) Community Trends in Bitcoin (00:02:32) Historical Context of Litecoin's Privacy Features (00:03:23) Challenges in Development (00:04:09) Explanation of Grin and MWEB (00:05:03) Grin's Adoption Issues (00:09:01) Marek Narozniak's Insights (00:10:06) Relevance of MWEB Today (00:10:48) MWEB vs Grin (00:12:13) Technical Challenges of MWEB Implementation (00:14:23) User Experience in MWEB (00:16:28) Types of Privacy in...

Liam Eagen (Alpen Labs), Robin Linus (Zero Sync, BitVM) & Jonas Nick (Blockstream, Taproot) talk about their groundbreaking research paper about Shielded Client-Side Validation – a new way to bring privacy & scalability to Bitcoin. –––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:51)
 What is Client-Side Validation? (00:02:09)
 Trade-offs in Client-Side Validation (00:04:20)
 Comparison with Existing Protocols (00:05:18)
 On-chain Throughput and Privacy (00:09:21)
 Connecting Bitcoin and Shielded CSV (00:09:55)
 User Interaction with the Protocol (00:11:07)
 Challenges with the Lightning Network (00:12:22)
 Atomic Swaps and Compatibility (00:14:56)
 Shielded CSV vs Monero & Zcash (00:16:12)
 Discussion on STARKs (00:19:28)
 OP_CAT and Covenants (00:21:46)
 OP_CAT and Functional Encryption (00:24:03)
 Exploration of BitcoinOS (00:25:21)
 Potential of BitVM (00:26:11) Bitcoin as a Currency (00:28:21)
 Funding for CSV Projects (00:30:40)
 Taint Concept in Shielded Transactions (00:31:14)
 Adoption and...

Just a few days after launching the Citrea testnet, Orkun Kilic joins the Bitcoin Takeover podcast to talk about his team's approach to building zero-knowledge proofs and the ambition to create a BTC-only economy around it. Time stamps: Rollups vs. Sidechains (00:02:02) The Need for Rollups in Bitcoin (00:04:18) Citrea's Unique Approach (00:06:29) Building a Generic Virtual Machine (00:08:08) Citrea as the First ZK Rollup on Bitcoin (00:09:10) Comparison with Other Projects (00:09:56) Use Cases for Average Users (00:12:08) Citrea & Non-Custodial Financial Services (00:14:44) Citrea vs Drivechains (00:16:30) Differences in Trust Assumptions (00:17:05) Drivechain Proposal History (00:18:14) Starkware and Zero Knowledge Proofs (00:19:13) Technical Limitations of Starknet (00:19:35) Building Non-Custodial Solutions (00:20:24) Future of...

Prof. Richard Werner is best known for proposing quantitative easing while working at the Bank of Japan in the 1990s, and then predicting the 2008 financial crisis. Today, he is a fan of Bitcoin and small community banks. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: Introducing Prof. Richard Werner (00:00:51) Richard Werner's View on Bitcoin (00:02:01) Problems with Central Banks (00:02:45) Empirical Studies on Money Creation (00:03:01) Decentralization and Local Banking (00:04:16) Concerns About CBDCs (00:05:23) Ideological Conflicts (00:06:38) Importance of Empirical Data (00:07:30) Critique of Theoretical Economics (00:09:51) Scientific Method in Economics (00:11:07) Concerns About CBDCs and Privacy (00:13:50) Opposition to CBDCs (00:14:35) Privacy Claims of CBDCs (00:16:10) Misunderstanding of CBDCs (00:17:16) Arguments Against CBDCs (00:18:29) Transparency in Central Banking (00:19:42) RFK's Blockchain Proposal (00:20:31) Personal Experience with Cash Transactions (00:21:43...

Decred is one of the oldest & most respectable altcoin projects around, which today has base layer privacy by default, a very stable Lightning Network implementation & an excellent DEX. Jake Yokom-Piatt & Phoenix Green explain how it all works. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: Introducing Jake & Phoenix (00:00:11)
 Jake's Background (00:01:23)
 Creation of Decred (00:02:48)
 Challenges Faced in Bitcoin Development (00:04:41)
 Initial Steps Towards Decred (00:06:11)
 Governance Issues in Bitcoin (00:07:20)
 Phoenix's Introduction (00:09:01)
 Overview of Bison Wallet (00:10:03)
 Phoenix's Journey with Decred (00:10:52)
 Atomic Swaps and Bison Wallet (00:11:55)
 Bison Wallet Development Costs (00:12:57)
 Philosophy Behind Bison Wallet (00:17:48)
 Corruption in Traditional Exchanges (00:18:18)
 Bison Wallet Features Explained (00:20:58)
 Differences Between Bitcoin and Decred (00:21:52)
 Consensus Algorithm and Its Issues (00:23:05)
 Governance Problems in Bitcoin (00:24:02)
 Funding Challenges in Bitcoin (00:24:5...

Kruw runs the most successful Wasabi wallet 2.0 coordinator and is the kind of privacy advocate who actually builds. In this episode, he talks about continuing Wasabi, the shortcomings of Samourai & how blockchain analysis works. Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:39)
 Recap of Wasabi Wallet Discussions (00:01:33)
 Samourai Wallet's Decentralization Announcement (00:02:28)
 Challenges Faced by Privacy Projects (00:03:56)
 Shift in Bitcoin Culture (00:04:40)
 Impact of Regulatory Pressures (00:05:32)
 Wasabi's Resilience (00:06:40)
 Exploring Bitcoin's Privacy Features (00:07:53)
 Demonstrating CoinJoin Transactions (00:08:36)
 Differences Between CoinJoin and Monero (00:10:24)
 Challenges with Bitcoin Transaction Privacy (00:11:23)
 Concerns Over High Transaction Fees (00:13:11)
 Wasabi's New Features for Privacy (00:17:40)
 User-Friendly Features in Wasabi 2.0 (00:20:14) Transaction Speedup Options (00:21:18)
 Critique of UTXO Management in Wasabi 2.0 (00:23:05)
 Wasab...

Charlie Shrem, best known for being the co-founder & CEO of BitInstant, is still an optimistic bitcoiner. In this episode, he comments on the block size wars, shares his thoughts on ongoing development & promotes his upcoming book about his journey. Time stamps: Introducing Charlie Shrem (00:00:23) How This Interview Happened (00:01:51) The Block Size Wars (00:02:41) 2014 Marked the End of an Era (00:05:16) Bitcoin Community Dynamics and Changes (00:06:55) Technical and Political Challenges (00:08:04) The Rise & Rise of Bitcoin Documentary (00:10:43) Stablecoins vs. Bitcoin (00:12:39) Philosophical Reflections on Money (00:15:29) Charlie Shrem’s Pepe (00:17:02) Personal Reflections on Prison Life (18:18)
 Rebirth After Prison (21:45)
 The State of Bitcoin (23:17)
 Cultural Shift in Bitcoin Communit...

Ben Arc is the creator of LNBits, as well as one of the founding fathers of the Nostr social media protocol. In this episode, he reflects on the state of development in Bitcoin and why he is still bullish on the Lightning Network! Time stamps: Introducing Ben (00:00:23) LNBits Contributors and Collaborators (00:01:41) Scaling Challenges of Lightning Network (00:05:01) Bidirectional Payment Channels (00:06:06) Need for Development in Lightning Network (00:07:22) Skepticism Towards Trusted Third Parties (00:09:32) Importance of Swapping Services (00:12:20) Innovating Lightning (00:17:40) ZK Rollups and Future of Bitcoin (00:18:15)
Covenants and Computer Science (00:19:49)
ZK Proofs and Mobile Wallets (00:20:21)
Drivechains (00:20:51)
Litecoin's Influence on Bitcoin (00:22:10) Centralized Mining Concerns (00:23:06)
Community Contributi...

Mike Carson is the CEO of Impervious (and Friendster): a Bitcoin-native ZK proof-native protocol which allows for scalable domain registrations on the Bitcoin blockchain. In this episode, he explains how & why he decided to disrupt ICANN. Time stamps: Introduction to the Podcast (00:00:41) Importance of Digital Identity (00:02:44) Overview of Spaces (00:05:25) Development of Spaces (00:06:38) Historical Context of Domain Names (00:08:38) Challenges with Namecoin (00:10:02) Censorship and Domain Ownership (00:12:49) Technical Limitations of Ethereum (00:13:52) Value of Impervious Spaces (00:17:27) Functionality of Spaces (00:18:33) Auction Mechanism Explained (00:19:58) Sponsor Introduction (00:21:05) Vlad introduces the episode's sponsors, Sideshift & Starkware Concatenation Opcode Discussion (00:22:26) Domain Access Query (00:23:29) Decentralized Naming System Details (00:23:43) Integration with Existing...

Murch is a Bitcoin Core contributor, best known for his engineering work at Chaincode Labs & his prolific answers on Bitcoin's Stack Exchange page. In this episode, he breaks myths about ordinals, OP_CAT, Drivechains, 0conf, ossification & more! Introduction of Murch (00:00:41) Discussion on Bitcoin Myths (00:01:41) Ordinal Inscriptions Debate (00:02:07) Concerns Over Ordinals and Fungibility (00:06:12) Censorship and Data Insertion (00:08:42) Bitcoin Core's Development Process (00:10:18) Public Nature of Bitcoin Core Discussions (00:11:31) Community Perception of Developers (00:12:49) Radicalization in Bitcoin Perspectives (00:16:35) Diverse Interests in Bitcoin (00:18:28) Censorship Resistance and Decentralization (00:20:21) Falsification and Software Maintenance (00:22:27) Evolving Software Ecosystem (00:24:29) Lightning Network and Transaction Confirmation (00:26:08) Community Engagement and Feedback (00:27:49) Default Behavior...

Edan Yago is the co-author of BitcoinOS: the first Zero Knowledge proof system to get verified on Bitcoin's main net. BitcoinOS is a significant breakthrough, as it endows Bitcoin with extended financial features without the need for a soft fork. Time stamps: Introducing Edan Yago... again in season 15! (00:00:45) BitcoinOS, The Shared Computation & Smart Contract System for Bitcoin (00:02:36) Introduction of BitSnark (00:05:55) Emulation of Conditional Payments Without a Covenant Soft Fork (00:06:13) BitSnark vs. BitVM (00:06:51) Taproot's Untapped Role (00:09:37) Scalability of Bitcoin (00:13:14) Understanding zk Proofs & Rollups (00:15:39) Defining Zero Knowledge Proofs (00:17:35) Potential of zk in Bitcoin OS (00:20:13) Bitcoin's Unique UTXOs with ZK Proofs (00:20:41) Future of...

Paul Puey is the CEO & co-founder of Edge Wallet: a light mobile wallet which is optimized for privacy features. In this episode, we talk about the philosophy behind Edge, how one should analyze privacy features & the various layers of Bitcoin privacy. Time stamps: Introducing Paul Puey (00:00:47) Overview of Edge Wallet Features (00:02:08) Decentralized Exchange Integration (00:04:00) Challenges of Privacy in the U.S. (00:04:58) Privacy and User Security (00:06:05) Political Climate and Crypto (00:08:05) Expectations from Politicians (00:10:01) Open Source Status of Edge Wallet (00:12:33) Importance of Transparency (00:14:31) User Privacy and App Permissions (00:15:56) Edge Wallet's Architecture (00:18:51) Public Key Data Handling (00:19:19) Transition to BlockBook Servers (00:19:58) Privacy Enhancements in...

Justin Bons is one of the most popular Bitcoin critics on Twitter. As a fan of new technologies, he believes that sharding and other scaling techniques will save the trilemma and bring uncompromising decentralization. Is it really so? Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:44) Justin's Shift from Supporter to Critic (00:01:32) Outperformance of Bitcoin (00:02:46) Gradual Realization of Bitcoin's Limitations (00:04:07) The Importance of Decision-Making in Bitcoin's Future (00:05:10) Bitcoin's Popularity vs. Its Fundamental Value (00:06:27) The Original Vision of Bitcoin (00:07:21) Comparison of Bitcoin and Ethereum (00:08:28) Clarifying Transaction Metrics (00:09:17) Ethereum's Capacity and Bitcoin's Limitations (00:10:37) The Evolution of Blockchain Technology (00:12:41) Decentralization Concerns with High Throughput Blockchains (00:15:01) The Ideal Blockchain...

Peter Todd is known for being brutally honest: so when it comes to topics such as covenant soft forks, monetary inflation, Bitcoin scaling & privacy, he won't hold back from being critical while expressing his love for the Lightning network. Time stamps: Introducing Peter Todd (00:00:41) Full RBF Discussion (00:01:56) Free Relay Attack Insights (00:04:05) Economic Incentives for Miners (00:05:00) Tail Emission Proposal (00:06:43) Critique of Fixed Supply Beliefs (00:08:43) Litecoin, Dogecoin & Tail Emission (00:11:30) Covenants in Bitcoin (00:13:21) Covenants and Lightning Network (00:14:21) Transaction Cycling Attack in Lightning (00:16:02) State of the Lightning Network (00:17:11) Discussions on ZK Rollups (00:18:55) Concerns Over Changing Incentives (00:19:26) Objections to ZK Rollups (00:20:21) Drivechains and Politics (00:22:05) Risks...

What's next for Wasabi Wallet after ZK Snacks shut down the biggest CoinJoin coordinator? Lucas Ontivero & Turbolay, the two developers who still maintain the code, are positive that the project will grow even bigger than before! So when is 3.0 coming? Time stamps: Introduction (00:00:42) Maintaining Wasabi (00:02:25) Decentralization and New Features (00:07:10) Community Takeover and Comparison with Samurai Wallet (00:10:55) Adapting to New Paradigm (00:15:25) Why Choose Wasabi? (00:20:57) The anonymity and privacy features of Wasabi (00:21:56) Government running a Wasabi coordinator? (00:23:27) Underrated features of Wasabi (00:24:38) Automatic coin selector and advanced coin selection workflow (00:27:37) Concerns and criticisms about Wasabi (00:29:38) Address reuse and privacy risks in Wasabi (00:32:30) Integrating...

Bitcoin Uncensored co-host Chris DeRose makes his fourth appearance on the Bitcoin Takeover podcast! This time around, he dislikes the English language, hates materialism, and wouldn't even accept a free Supra! Three former BU guests join the reunion. Time Stamps: The reunion of Bitcoin Uncensored (00:00:27) Influential moments and early guests (00:01:43) Introduction and background of Chris DeRose (00:02:33) Discussion about Perry Ann Boring (00:03:19) Reflection on blockchain and decentralization (00:08:19) Nostalgia for the early days of Bitcoin (00:13:23) Controversies and impact of interviews (00:15:11) Reflection on podcast quality and fun (00:19:34) Cultural shifts (00:21:48) Cancel Culture (00:23:08) American Banker Conference 2015 (00:23:43) Confidence in Bitcoin (00:25:26) Experts vs elites (00:29:32) Use of Language (00:31:23) ...

Sergio Demian Lerner is the architect of Rootstock, Bitcoin's first sidechain. Recently, he became interested in BitVM as an instrument to create trust-minimized sidechains. So he optimized the design & created BitVMX! Introduction Sergio... again! (00:00:31) Evolution of BitVM (00:02:18) Improvements in BitVM X (00:13:26) Trust-minimized Computing (00:17:11) The politics of Bitcoin software (00:18:34) Decentralization and financial inclusion (00:20:06) Miners' role in supporting sidechains (00:20:55) Sidechain vs. Layer Two (00:22:09) Comparison between Rootstock and Liquid (00:24:44) Technical aspects of BitVM X (00:28:11) Integration of Ethereum innovations into Bitcoin (00:30:44) Contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem (00:34:03) Bitcoin Culture and Price Dynamics (00:34:05) Innovation and Staying Ahead (00:36:10) Failure and Disruption (00:37:21) Competition and Lightning Network (00:39:36) Bitcoin Layers...

Sergio Demian Lerner is the architect of Rootstock, Bitcoin's first sidechain. Recently, he became interested in BitVM as an instrument to create trust-minimized sidechains. So he optimized the design & created BitVMX!

What are the Bitcoin projects that suck? In this episode, Super Testnet & Shinobi point out to lots of suboptimal features in CoinJoins, Lightning Network, Nostr, BitVM, and Bitcoin development itself. It's fun, it's educational & it's brutally honest! Time stamps: Introducing Shinobi & Super Testnet (00:00:00) Recording at Paralelni Polis (00:01:06) Why Taproot Sucks (00:01:49) Lightning Network (00:05:06) Wasabi Wallet (00:08:19) Nostr Social Media (00:16:15) Cryptographic Key Management (00:17:09) Cryptography Misconceptions (00:18:19) Nostr's Lack of Key Management (00:21:01) Proposed Solutions for Key Management (00:21:47) Criticism of SeedSigner (00:24:21) Alternative ESP32 Hardware Wallets (00:28:23) LNBits and Iterative Improvements (00:28:50) Drivechain Debate (00:30:04) Random Ordering for Sidechains to Prevent MEV (00:34:42) The timestamp's title (time it starts) Drivechains and...

F/Dev, also known as 1440000bytes or simply "Floppy", is an open source developer best known for his work on Joinstr: a CoinJoin implementation for Electrum wallet. In this episode, he talks about Bitcoin privacy & his new job at LayerTwo Labs. Time stamps: Mr. Floppy's Work on CoinJoin (00:01:31) Discusses the implementation of CoinJoin feature in Electrum wallet and the challenges faced. Differences in CoinJoin Protocols (00:04:02) User Reception and Usage of CoinJoin (00:06:35) Challenges and Social Dynamics in Bitcoin Community (00:11:45) State of Lightning Network (00:22:06) Mr. Floppy's Employment at LayerTwo Labs (00:18:22) LayerTwo Labs and Lightning Network Critique (00:21:23) Client Protections (00:29:26) Custodial Wallet Risks (00:30:41) Custodial...

Rijndael is the CTO of Taproot Wizards – a group of bitcoiners who want to make Bitcoin magical. In this interview, he talks about why OP_CAT matters and what kind of features we should expect to see in Bitcoin once a covenant soft fork gets activated. Taproot Wizards and Bitcoin Magic (00:01:53) Memes as Tools for Bitcoin Advancement (00:03:20) Discussion on Taproot Wizards' Intentions (00:03:47) Rijndael's Background and Work (00:06:38) Discussion on BitKey Hardware Wallet (00:09:12) Statechains and Drivechains (00:20:06) Layer Two Labs and Paul Sztorc’s Message (00:26:03) Taproot Wizards Funding Accusations (00:28:16) Cryptography and Scaling (00:31:53) Stark Proofs and Scalability (00:33:06) Layer Two Solutions (00:36:33) Bitcoin's Evolution (00:38:51) Lightning Network (00:42:21) Is S...

Pete Rizzo is a veteran Bitcoin journalist who still remembers the time when Bitcoin & crypto were the same undivided community. In this episode, he talks about why Bitcoin history matters & how he approaches journalism. Time stamps: Bitcoin's Historical Significance (00:00:48) Bitcoin's Emergence and Pete Rizzo's Journey (00:02:09) Challenges in Understanding Bitcoin's History (00:03:40) Bitcoin's Ever-Changing Nature (00:05:24) The Importance of Contextualizing Bitcoin's History (00:08:12) The Battle Over Bitcoin's History (00:13:47) Acknowledging Contributions and Controversies (00:18:04) The fork wars (00:21:16) Eric Voorhees' perspective (00:23:19) Preserving and accessing primary materials (00:24:14) Bitcoin maximalism and libertarianism (00:26:58) Roger Ver's book on Bitcoin Cash (00:34:36) The imposition of ideologies on Bitcoin (00:41:52) Inconsistencies in Bitcoin ideology (00:42:31) Actions...

Crypsi is the representative of an art collective which expresses its anti-establishment ideas through physical paintings & collages, as well as digitally tokenized ideas. In this episode, he explains why memes are art & why memecoins matter. Time stamps: Bitcoin Art Collective's Origin (00:01:39) Evolution of Crypto Art (00:03:19) Role of Art in Bitcoin Revolution (00:12:21) Intersection of Memes and Art (00:13:28) Importance of Privacy in Bitcoin Art (00:18:15) Debate on Bitcoin Art and NFTs (00:25:37) Bitcoin's Evolution (00:27:06) Art and Bitcoin (00:28:07) Challenges in Bitcoin Art (00:29:23) Crypto Art Movement (00:30:21) Art in Crypto Community (00:35:22) NFTs and Bitcoin (00:38:38) Bitcoin Adoption and Challenges (00:42:10) Crypto Art Tokens (00:44:07) Bitcoin Maximalism and Multi-Chain (00:51:39) The multichain...

Marek Narozniak is a Polish physicist who works on a MimbleWimble implementation that can get added to Bitcoin via extension blocks to become a privacy layer. He also specializes in quantum computing, and busts some FUD about their threat. Time stamps: Introduction to Mimblewimble and Grin (00:00:40) The Privacy Model of Mimblewimble (00:02:07) What is Mimblewimble and Grin? (00:03:47) Scalability and Growth of Grin (00:05:18) Marek's Interest in Grin and Quantum Computing (00:07:16) Challenges and Funding of Grin Development (00:13:36) CoinJoin on Bitcoin (00:15:41) CoinJoin and Privacy in Mimblewimble (00:16:49) The Relevance of Mimblewimble and Grin to Bitcoin (00:22:18) Bitcoin Philosophy (00:24:15) Scalability and Design of Grin (00:25:37) Compatibility with Bitcoin (00:27:31) ...

Back in 2014, Eli Ben-Sasson co-authored the Zerocash paper, which proposed a ZK SNARK system that creates anonymous Bitcoin payments. Around the same time, he also spoke about the compression benefits of zero-knowledge proofs – a full Bitcoin node can be synced within seconds just by verifying against a valid proof. More recently, he became interested in STARKs and built a company around this cryptographic breakthrough. If SNARKs require a trusted setup, then STARKs are a major leap towards trust minimization. If Bitcoin activates the OP_CAT soft fork, then this ZK rollup scheme also becomes possible to enable great privacy and lo...

OpenDelta is a synthetic dollar (stablecoin) that's built on top of Bitcoin's newly-launched Runes protocol. In this episode, co-founders Nick Schteringart & Konstantin Wünscher discuss about how and why they built this.

MWEB was activated on Litecoin's main net in 2022, providing a useful mix of privacy and scalability. It's a fascinating soft fork that's 100% compatible with Bitcoin. In this episode, Charlie Lee explains how MWEB works & why it matters. Time stamps: Introduction to the Episode (00:00:35)
 Bet with Roger Ver (00:01:19)
 Lightning Network Adoption (00:02:49)
 Expectations for Lightning Network (00:04:10)
 Lightning as a Privacy Solution (00:05:11)
 Second Layer Solutions Discussion (00:06:23)
 Block Size and Decentralization (00:08:16)
 Trade-offs in Scaling Solutions (00:10:06)
 Introduction to MWEB (00:11:51)
 Technical Specifications of MWEB (00:14:45)
 Financial Privacy as a Human Right (00:16:46)
 Controversy Surrounding Samurai Wallet (00:18:18)
 Mixing and Privacy in MWEB (00:19:52)
 Confidential Transactions in MWEB (00:20:34)
 Confidential Transactions Explained (00:21:32)
 Mimblewimble's Cut-Through Fea...